The True Face of Fear
by Shadows Under Us
Summary: What if, the only reason why Pitch attacked the Guardians was becuase Manny asked him to so that they would get off their lazy asses and start paying attention to the children? (And of course, so that Jack Frost would join, and stop being so alone?)
1. Chapter 1

Silence, thick and heavy, laid in the Saunteff Clausen, allowing the sound of the harsh, howling winds that crash against and rattle the windows to be heard by all. Outside, in the cold, snow fell in a steady and continuing stream, the light of the timid sun reflecting off the snowflakes every so often.

Had it been any other normal occasion, Jack Frost would've currently been outside in that snow, flying along the wind and playing in the snow either with some animals or kids, not caring whether or not they believed in him. Alas, he knows that if he were to go to them right now, his mood would only serve to make him even more annoyed.

And so here he is, sitting on a comfy sofa in Santa's Meeting Room along with the other Guardians, all whom are still trying to process Manny's words from last night.

Fluttering about the room along with Baby Tooth, Toothiana wrings her hands and bites her lips, her confusion as clear as glass on her face. Across from Jack, North sits on a recliner chair in front of the fireplace, his bushy brows furrows as he trails a hand through his white beard. Bunny and Sandy were in front of the only window in the room, and from the sound of the Bunny's hushed whispers and Sandy's frantic dreamsand shapes, Jack can only guess that they are still in the middle of their argument.

Out of all of them, Bunny is the one who appears to have the most trouble with what Manny revealed to them, and he's very, ah, vocal in stating his displeasure.

"Come on, mate," He groans, raising his voice. "This is 'im we're talkin' about!"

Sandy shakes his head, and above him, the golden dreamsand takes the shape of the round moon. The moon disappears, and then the clear silhouette of Pitch Black appears beside an okay sign.

 _Manny said that Pitch is good._

"Manny is playin' a prank on us!"

Jack, even though he still has trouble believing that Pitch, their supposed enemy, has only been keeping the balance instead of trying his luck on world domination, still disagrees with Bunny. He hardly doubts that a being such as Manny would actually take joy on playing pranks, of all things. Especially ones that include Pitch.

Jack stands up from the couch before Sandy can shape his thoughts, catching their attention. Biting his lips, he speaks: "Perhaps we should just go and ask Pitch?"

Bunny splutters and Sandy literally _beams_ up at Jack; North and Tooth only share a glance.

"I mean, if Manny is correct, then Pitch wouldn't attack us, right?" Jack grins, blinking innocently at the withering look Bunny sends his way. He twirls his staff and bounces on the balls of his feet, and in the back of his mind he takes notice of the calming wind outside.

"Is. . . . not bad idea, actually," North finally muses, and even Jack can see the shining glint in his eyes.

(He rememberes how two weeks after the disastrous Easter, North had admitted that perhaps, just perhaps, Pitch's attack wasn't entirely the darker spirit's fault. That perhaps, the Guardians' constant attempt at keeping him locked up may have been a mistake.)

"Are you sure, North? I mean I understand it's Manny, but. . . ." Tooth says while cradling Baby Tooth in her hands and Bunnymund nods with her, glad that someone is taking his side.

"How about you and Bunny stay at the Pole, and Jack, Sandy, and I check on Pitch?" North suggests, standing up. "If we do not come back after hours, come for us."

Bunny and Tooth share a wary look before Bunny sighs, his ears twitching in annoyance. He already knows that there's no use in fighting against North— very rarely does the old Bandit backs away from a decision, and this time is no different, especially since both Sandy and Jack also support him.

"Ugh," Aster rolls his eyes at the grinning Jack and shining Sandy, both happy for two very, _very_ different reasons. "Alright, but be careful, mate. It's still Pitch we're talking about."

 **Oh my god im so excited for this. But like seriously, should I continue this? Does it sound good?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! Before we begin, i just wanted to say that: 1) this fic is most definitely not compliant with any of the books. And 2) usually in other fics Pitch just controls fear mentally, but I decided to go with another method.** **You'll see when you read it ;) Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this!**

A dark spirit slinks through the shadows of a small village in Iraq, passing by sleeping adults and children alike. When he passes by the animals, they jolt and either scramble away or growl in warning. The spirit pays them no attenting, and instead focuses on the small forest surrounding a side the village, where he can feel the familiar fear of being lost, of not being found, of predators, radiating off in waves.

Still in the shadows, he moves towards where the waves are coming from. Above him, the moon twinkles gently, bright as ever. And if someone were to look hard enough, then they'd see a smiling face upon the moon's surface.

Coming to stop in front of a tree, he sees who is emitting such a fear; a little girl sits with her back to a tree, tightly curled into a ball and rocking herself. A breeze blows by and it causes the girl to shiver, a whimper sounding from the back of her throat. The spirit can feel her fear rise, leaving a sour taste in the back of his throat.

The spirit ignored the taste and instead turns back to the girl and her fear. He slinks out of the shadows, knowing that the girl cannot see him, and reaches a hand out.

"Come to me," he gently urges the fear. A small, misshapen mass of dark gray dust slowly appears in front of the little girl, though she cannot see it. The mass comes to the spirit's hand, allowing said spirit to twist the dust between his fingers.

Too afraid of wolves, the little girl had decided that staying in the forest would be good instead of trying to find a way out. Unbeknownst to her, wolves aren't the only dangerous creatures here; scorpions, snakes, and poisonous bugs are around, and if she stays any longer, then she'd become one of their preys.

The spirit twists and turns the fear in his hands, taking complete control of it. He then allows the fear to return to the girl. Mentally, he whispers to the girl in her mother language, becoming the voice of her subconsciousness:

 _'There are scorpions and snakes, and it's too dark to see them.'_

She slowly raises her head up, and it's then that the spirit can see her dirt-caked features. Her brown eyes are puffy, and there's dried snot on her nose. She looks to be about seven or eight.

The spirit continues, _'If you stay, one of them could come. Mama and Baba always warned you about them,'_

While the girl is still distracted, the spirit uses the shadows to make all of surrounding darker except for a part still lit my the moonlight, the one that leads back to the village. He nudges the girl a bit more and finally, she stands up.

She appears to be still hesitant, but she doesn't sit down again. As she moves, the twigs and dried leaves beneath her sandals snap and break. The girl flinches at the sound but still goes on, arms wrapped tightly around herself.

Pitch Black, the Nightmare King and the Boogeyman, stays back in the forest in the shadows, already knowing that his Nightmares would lead her back to the village safely.

Speaking of Nightmares; Onyx materializes beside him, neighing. She butts her neck against his hand, and Pitch pats her mane. He can feel the fear she's collected flow to him, and so he rewards her by scratching her neck.

"Good girl," he praises her, allowing her to nuzzle him a bit. He's about to mount her when a moonbeam shines in front of him.

Confused, he turns to look up at the moon. "What is it, old friend?" He asks, watching as the moonbeam slowly forms the shape of the Guardians.

He furrows his brows, and takes a guess at what Manny is trying to say, "They have found out?"

The moonbeam shines brighter, which means _yes_ so Pitch sighs. He knows that they were bound to find out sometime, but he didn't realize that it would be so soon after their last "battle".

"I take it they now want to talk?"

The moonbeam shines again.

Pitch sighs again and mounts Onyx, a smirk starting to grow on his face. "Oh, this will be quite a show," he says to himself, but Onyx still whinnies in agreement.

There's no need for it as Onyx already knows where he plans to go, but Pitch still says it: "To the Lair."

And then, they're off, neither of them noticing a certain winter spirit that was watching them from afar.

Jack, in all his 300 years of 're-living' as a spirit, has seen many strange things, from talking kangaroos and groundhogs to drunk love spirits with far too many arrows, but none of them could even come close to seeing his enemy, who is not actually an enemy, help a child return to her parents. A child that does not even believe in him, Jack also notes.

Raising his staff up, he shoots a blast of ice up towards the sky; alerting the other two Guardians of his location.

Earlier, when they had gone to Burgess, the entrance to Pitch's Lair was still closed. Instead of having to travel the entire Earth in search of him, Manny had graciously told North that Pitch was in Iraq. He hadn't elaborated any further, so they decided to split up.

If had any doubts about what Manny had said before, then they slowly disappeared as he watched Pitch take care of a kid so easily, it was almost like he had done it before. And if things were true, then he definitely did help kids before.

Smile stretching into a cheshire grin, Jack lays down on a tree branch, impatiently waiting for the other two to come so that they may go to the Lair and finally talk to Pitch.

 **How was it? Any constructive criticism, thoughts, anything? What would you guys like to see in the future?**

 **And a big thank you to all those who have read, commented, and followed the story. You guys are awesome!**


	3. Chapter 3

_Drip._

Pitch stands perfectly straight in front of his second Globe, silver dots now covering it instead of the golden ones that were there during the Easter Battle. The silver lights shine steady and bright, almost like they're tiny, tiny shards of diamonds embedded in the metal composing the Globe.

They're all his believers, each one unique in their own fears and beliefs. The only thing that connects them is that they're all under his protection; his Nightmares as their friends and he, himself, as their only guardian against the horrors most of them have to deal with when they're not asleep. Of course, he's not so blind as to believe that all of them believe only in him and not the other, actual Guardians. Had he been a younger, lesser spirit he might've held that arrogant belief, but No. Pitch has been on this earth for longer than most of the other spirits were; he is ancient, even among spirits that are centuries old. And it's through the intelligence he gained throughout all this time that he does not allow himself to hold such childish belief.

 _Drip._

One of his Nightmares nudges her muzzle against his hand, and he pats her, mind no longer focused on his believers but instead on the echoing sound of water droplets hitting the ground.

Droplets of water that appeared the second he sensed the Guardains 'sneakily' and 'subtly' enter his Domain through the closet of one Jamie Benett. Water meant Jack, so now the question was whether all of the Guardians had come as well or Jack just himself. Of course, it could also be that Jack and a fellow Guardian had come by themselves.

Still, it truly doesn't matter that much to him. Either way, none of them are that welcomed here nor does he plan on letting them stay that long. Just because he doesn't truly want world domination doesn't mean that he'll start treating them like they've been friends for ages and that they haven't been trying to lock him up since the thrice-damned mess that was the Dark Ages.

Shaking off his thoughts, Pitch slinks into the shadows along with his Nightmares, darkening the Globe Room until only the barest of the broken and inconsistent concrete and stone structures can be seen.

He has a bunch of Guardians to scare, hopefully enough that they'd leave him alone for at least a few ling, nice centuries.

* * *

"I _swear_ that this place wasn't like this before!" Jack snaps at North and Sandy, _hmph_ ing annoyedly at the two.

"The place is dark, Jack. It's fine to get confused!" North beams at him, patting the younger spirit on the back. Of course, Jack merely glowers back at him, rolling his eyes and pointedly ignoring Sandy's mischievous smirk.

Five minutes later, Jack is the one smirking while Sandy pouts, the yellow spirit held in North's hand and used as a flashlight to guide them through the winding hallways.

 _Ha_ , Jack thinks as he dodges a ball of yellow sleeping sand, laughing. _Take that, Sandy._

His laughter, however, is cut short when the sharp whinny of a Nightmare catches their attention, much too close for Jack's own comfort.

Jack only manages to catch sight of golden eyes before they're all thrown in a whirlwind of shadows.

 **Oh my god hiiii how's everyone? I hope all of you had a nice new year and all that. Before i go on, i'd like to thank each and every one of you for the favorites, likes, comments, and everything else. It means a shit ton to me, so thank you all.**

 **ANYWAYS, i _loved_ reading every single comment like oh my god, and everyone's opinions about Pitch, the fic, or just fear in general were very lovely to read. Ane while we're talking about the comments, I'd like to answer a Guest's question about the term _'baba': baba_ means _father_ in Arabic and Persian (and probably a few other languages as well), and why i wrote baba in that chapter is beacuse of the fact that the little girl is in Iraq. **

**I hope that answered your question :)**

 **Now, i was wondering, would you guys like to see Pitch become romantically involved with anyone or no? If yes, then who? (Doesn't matter if they're the Guardians or not, they could be a OC as well)**

 **Any questions, suggestions, and/or constructive criticism is welcome anytime :).**


	4. Chapter4

**Hi everyone! Yes, this story is still continued even though i went away for such a long time. But I ultimately refuse to stop working on it XD**

 **But anyways, thank you to everyone who reviewd this and follow it! And to answer sparklehannah: well, it was Sandy's idea, and we'll see how he got such an idea in later chapter ;) and now, onto the story!**

The horde of Nightmares is fast, navigating through Pitch's lair like it's a second nature for them to know every nook and cranny of the creepy structures of their creepy Master's domain. They ignore the three Guardians' garbled shouts and protests and take twists and turns that Jack's pretty sure aren't _that_ necessarily to take, too swift and fast for their three victims to memorize the many corridors, hallways, and stairs.

 _Just as dramatic as their Master,_ Jack thinks glumly as he's unceremoniously thrown onto the ground, his staff following a second later by hitting him hard on his head. Jack glares at the Nightmare that threw his staff, who, much to his growing annoyance, whinnies and thumps on the ground, amusement _crystal clear_ in its golden eyes.

Standing up while keeping a wary eye on the reatreating Nightmare, Jack turns to his fellow Guardians to see if they're in any similar state or if they're even there at all; he breathes a silent sigh of relief as he sees North and Sandy with him, stifling a laugh when he notices Sandy's black-spotted backside.

By the glare the older spirit aims his way, Jack's pretty sure he failed to hide his mirth.

"Jack, Sandy, pay attention," North cuts their silent banter off, his swords in his hands. As Jack looks around, he sees that the Nightmares left them on the top of a large, circular pillar, an abyss of what feels like an unnatural darkness surrounding them. Their only source of light is Sandy's body and the little bit of moonlight that's entering from a tiny crack in the ceiling.

In the distance, Jack hears something _shift,_ like scales sliding on rocks, and then—

"To what do I owe the. . . _pleasure_ of having three of the ever so _esteemed_ Guardians in my domain?" Pitch Black's voice silkily draws out from everywhere at once, his sarcastic emphasis on the words _pleasure_ and _esteemed_ not lost on the Guardians.

Sandy, Jack, and North share wary glances, before North steps up, his swords still in his hands; even though he completely trusts the Man in Moon, he still doesn't want to take his chance with the Nightmare King.

"We come in peace, Pitch," North decides on saying, confused internally on where he's supposed to look at to talk to Pitch. "And we have questions we need answers for."

The sound of metal clattering makes all three of them turn to the left, something at the edge of their vision moving. "And pray tell, why ever would I answer _you_?"

"Show yourself, Pitch, and then we talk," North says firmly, and then they wait for a few seconds, silence stretching and filling the wherever they are.

Pitch's voice then comes, and seconds later his thin, lithe form literally _drips_ from the shadows into existence before them, a comfortable distance between them. There's a sneer curling his lips, and his eyes are narrowed in a hard glare. "Well, what do you want? Is it that hard for you Guardians to hold yourselves back from gloating?"

"Sheesh, I thought we were the ones asking the questions here?" Jack mutters as he rolls his eyes, grinning sheepishly when he notices the other three's eyes are on him.

"The thing is, Pitch, the Man in Moon said something very interesting and voila, we're here to check whether it's true or not!" Jack cheerfully informs, his grin stretching further when Pitch's expression becomes deadpanned.

Pitch opens his mouth to retaliate, or perhaps say something equally scathing, but suddenly the lair starts shaking, and then a hole opens up from the ground, Bunnymund shooting out of it.

The Guardians are confused, but Pitch snarls angrily, inwardly wondering just why would that insufferable, overgrown bunny join them.

Surprisingly, Bunnymund doesn't pay him attention, instead focusing on North. Pitch is surprised, however, to taste the slight fear radiating off him.

"North!" Bunnymund gasps. "You must come back! The yetis are out of control!"

North immediately begins sputtering and asking questions along with Sandy, but Bunnymund doesn't bother answering him, trying his best to tug North's heavy, fixed body into the hole. Jack himself turns to look back at the spirit they originally came for, but there's no trace of Pitch, and the lair has gotten impossibly darker.

 _Where could he have gone to?_ Jack wonders to himself, before he is pulled by Sandy.


End file.
